A Transactional Framework of Parenting for Children’s Internet Use: A Narrative Review of Parental Self-Efficacy, Mediation, and Awareness of Online Risks

Abstract

Parental concern about children’s media use has been a recurring issue in research on parent-child communication. For the past three decades, online risks associated with children’s Internet use have also become a particular concern. However, recent evidence remains inconclusive about whether parental awareness of online risks is a result or antecedent of parental mediation of children’s Internet use. The aim of this narrative review is threefold: to propose (a) a bi-factor conceptualization of parental mediation—enabling and restrictive mediation as two sides of the same coin; (b) a transactional conceptualization of relationships between parental awareness, mediation, and self-efficacy; and (c) a transactional framework of parenting for children’s Internet use. Further research could test the proposed conceptualization and framework for distinguishing between when parental awareness is the result and antecedent of parental mediation.